April 2011Stein
Music
H2 Harmonizers And Magic StonesA uniquely original
approach to a better sounding listening room.
Review By Wayne Donnelly

This is the kind of review I especially enjoy.
Effectively, one that describes such unique products offer challenges and
rewards beyond the norm of reviewing standard product categories. On an
evaluation of a preamplifier or amplifier the writer can draw on past review
experiences to at least set a frame of reference for the current subject. But
that is far from the case here. As my second decade of audio reviewing nears,
nothing I've previously encountered has prepared me for how Holder Stein's
remarkable products so effectively enhance the beauty and emotional connection I
experience during each session with my audio system.

Most audiophiles would acknowledge the adage that
the listening room is the key element in the sound of an audio system. But few
of even the most ambitious systems I have encountered include substantial room
treatment, and those systems typically fail to achieve their full sonic
potential regardless of the cost of the equipment. They are compromised by
frequency peaks and dips caused by the room's uneven interaction with the output
of the loudspeakers.

Room treatments essentially fall into two
categories, active or passive. Active electronic products, connected within the
signal path, range from the graphic and parametric equalizers that have been
around forever to more sophisticated recent DSP-based room correction products.
All of them work by modifying the system's frequency curve. Passive room
treatments typically involve bulky traps and diffusers, commonly fabric-covered
cardboard and foam structures designed to absorb and redirect the output of the
speakers to produce a smoother and better balanced octave-to-octave frequency
spectrum.

Confession time. Until a couple of years ago I
was among the audiophiles who resist using traditional room treatments, either
active or passive. Years ago I had dabbled with equalizers, but found the
products of the 1980s demanded too many trade-offs. While I might accomplish
some desirable frequency shaping, the positive benefits were offset by phase
anomalies, and all too often undesirable degradations of tonal beauty and
transient impact resulting from inserting typically poorly engineered equalizer
designs into my "purist" signal path.

As for conventional traps and diffusers, I've
resisted cluttering my room with dust-catching big traps and panels. Now, décor
has never loomed large in my priorities, and none of my listening rooms has ever
been in danger of appearing in House
Beautiful or Architectural Digest.
But adding those honkin' big uglies into the visual mix has had zero appeal.
Moreover, my two cats would think they'd been transported to a wonderful world
of oversized scratching posts! Finally, none of my listening rooms over the last
25 years has been a rectangular box, a shape that tends to emphasize audible
room boundary effects; each has been shaped so that standing wave problems were
minimized and heavy-duty room treatments have not been required to achieve
reasonably well balanced sound.

There are of course many other forms of passive
room conditioning, including among others African ebony Mpingo disks, RoomLens
plastic Helmholtz resonators, Shaketi
Hallographs, and the Synergistic Research Acoustic ART resonating bowls I wrote
about in December 2009 (more on those below). Over the years I
have tried all of the aforementioned unconventional products, and others as
well. Some gave me good results, some didn't, and some yielded ambiguous
results. But the one thing that has been consistent is that for any room-tuning
product that falls outside the generally accepted active electronic and passive
trap/diffuser approaches, there is always a sizable and highly vocal number of
audiophiles who reject such unconventional thinking out of hand. Nothing
activates the "snake oil" chorus more predictably than products whose rationale
relies on concepts not covered in high school and undergraduate physics
textbooks. I suspect that these Steinmusic products will evoke a similar
reaction in many. My goal is to make a sufficient case for them to encourage
more listeners to broaden their horizons, open their minds, and judge
unconventional products by their sonic results.

The Steinmusic system confounds easy
characterization. The Harmonizers are electronically active, but they are not
connected within the system's signal path. Changing the Intensity level quite
audibly alters the in-room sound, but that interaction is strictly with the room
itself, not the electronics of the system. But the Magic Stones, which are
equally important to the effect, are totally passive devices. I have not
previously worked with any similar combination of active and passive room tuningelements.

In mid-2010 my friend Jack Bybee – another
creator of sonically superb, scientifically valid, but often misunderstood
off-the-beaten-track audio accessories – excitedly described to me some black
boxes and small resonant pieces whose deployment had dramatically enhanced the
beauty and musicality of his already superior audio system. Jack is not prone to
hyperbole, so based on his enthusiasm I contacted Holger Stein and requested
review samples of his H2 Harmonizers and Magic Stones. A few days later the
parcel arrived from Germany and the adventure began.

Physical Description &
Room ConfigurationThe shipping carton contained four 5 x 5 x 4 inch,
beautifully painted black MDF cubes, a 12V wall-wart power supply for each cube,
and a set of 10 small rounded, triangular-shaped pieces – the Magic Stones –
to be distributed through the listening room.

The
cubes are the H2 Harmonizers, marked either H2A or H2B. Each Harmonizer has a
blue LED on the front panel to indicate that it is getting power. The rear panel
has an input jack for the wall wart, an ON/OFF toggle for the LED (and to turn
on or off an internal 9V battery if that power option is chosen over the wall
warts), and an Intensity knob with a rotational range from 7 to 5 o'clock.
Inside is space for the 9V battery and a small electronic circuit. There is no
visible difference in the appearance of the circuits in the H2A or H2B
Harmonizers.

There are three basic options for configuring the
Steinmusic Harmonizers. The listening room's size and the system's electronics
and speakers may perform well with two (1 H2A and 1 H2B), three (2 H2A and 1
H2B), or four (2 H2A and 2 H2B) Harmonizers. The deployment of the Magic Stones
need not change because more Harmonizers are in use. The following room diagram
illustrates recommended placements of the Harmonizers and Magic Stones. You can
see that in the four-cube setup the H2A and H2B Harmonizers are paired in
diagonal relationships. That principle holds true for the two-cube and
three-cube layouts; however, in all cases some experimentation with the precise
locations of Harmonizers and Stones will help the listener optimize the entire
configuration for best results.

At the beginning of this process I
had no idea which of the above – described setups would work optimally in my
room. I set about methodically to try them out, starting with the simplest
two-Harmonizer version (1 H2B behind the right speaker and 1 H2A behind the
listening seat on the left side). After working with that configuration for
almost two weeks, I went to three Harmonizers (1 H2A behind the left speaker, 1
H2A behind the listening seat on the right side, and1 H2B behind the listening
seat on the left side), and subsequently, when I felt I had gotten the best
possible results from that rig, on to the four-Harmonizer version depicted in
the room diagram.

The changes in sound resulting from those progressive stages
did not happen in linear and predictable ways. I was very pleased with the
initial two-Harmonizer setup. I could hear small increases in clarity with two
Harmonizers even before I placed the Magic Stones in the recommended locations.
However, putting the Magic Stones in place immediately raised the quality of
sound, confirming that they are essential to the concept.

Adding a third Harmonizer did not initially make things
better. With one Harmonizer located behind the left speaker, it took a while to
find the best locations for the second and third Harmonizers at the listening
end of the room. I settled on placing the second H2A about six feet to the right
of and five feet behind my listening seat; the single H2B was placed
symmetrically on the left. Even then, I found the improvements from adding the
third Harmonizer to be relatively minor. Had I been stopping at that point I
would have gone back to the two-Harmonizer setup, not having found that three
Harmonizers produced an improvement worth the cost of the third cube.( Let me
say here that other users report excellent results with three Harmonizers. The
point is that each listener must listen carefully to dial in the Steinmusic
system for a particular room.)

Going
to four Harmonizers proved the right choice for my room. The Harmonizers and
Magic Stones were placed in the relationships shown in the room diagram above. A
few weeks into the review, Holger Stein sent me a few different-looking Magic
Stones: white, round-shaped with curved star-like arms radiating from the
center. He advised that the qualities of those pieces should be very close to
the original Magic Stones. I did not substitute the new Stones for original
ones, but simply added them into the whole configuration. Adding more Magic
Stones enriched the naturalness of vocals and clarified pitch definition of
lower frequencies. And about a month after that, I received five new pieces,
labeled Magic Diamonds: shallow cone-shaped pieces with greater mass than the
Magic Stones. Adding them to the mix–three at about head height across the
wall behind the speakers, two on the wall behind the listening seat, further
enriched vocal and instrumental clarity and provided more sense of weight and
substance, especially for piano, low strings and brass. Making those changes on
the fly I learned that while the basic set of Magic Stones work very well with
the Harmonizers, adding more of those passive resonant elements made things
sound even better.

Digression: Juggling Unconventional Room
TreatmentsIn December 2009, in the final "Accessories" chapter
of my three-part narrative on building a reference system, I reviewed the Synergistic
Research Acoustic ART system, another unconventional room treatment that
has generated controversy and disbelief among many audio skeptics. I suggest
that readers interested in creative approaches to room tuning read that review.
The Acoustic ART and Steinmusic systems operate differently from each other as
well as from conventional room treatments, and both are intended as complete
room tuning solutions. One cannot reliably evaluate one of those systems while
the other is simultaneously affecting the total system response.

My solution was first to disable the Acoustic ART system –
very easy – and for three evenings in a row listen in my now-untreated room in
order to reestablish in my mind and ears the sound of my system without any room
tuning elements. That sound was pretty much as I remembered it: good, but
lacking the full harmonic richness and spatial depth and resolution I had gotten
used to with the Acoustic ART elements in place. Then, starting from scratch as
it were, I went through the progression described above before settling on the
four-Harmonizer configuration with additional Magic Stones and Magic Diamonds.
The following listening comments first discuss the results with the fully
configured Steinmusic system, and then what happens when both the Steinmusic and
Acoustic ART systems are employed simultaneously.

Listening to The Four-Harmonizer Steinmusic
SystemOnce one has satisfactorily placed the Harmonizers and
Magic Stones, the next step is to set optimally the desired Intensity level,
using the rotary knob on the rear of the Harmonizer. Stein suggests 11 o'clock
as a good starting place, and that turned out to be nearly ideal. Compared to
the sound of my untreated room, activating the Steinmusic system immediately
resulted in a warmer overall acoustic and enhanced intelligibility of vocals.
There was also considerably greater detail retrieval, with much improved
capturing of ambient sounds – I was suddenly hearing the odd chair squeak
here, the clicking of woodwind keys there. But I wanted to hear what would
happen if I cranked up the Intensity level, so I moved the settings on all four
Harmonizers to 3 o'clock. It was immediately clear that the higher setting was
too much. The sound had originally been relaxed and engaging. At the higher
Intensity setting, that sense of ease and naturalness yielded to an unpleasantly
edgy quality to everything. The gorgeous brass tonalities on the new Harmonia
Mundi release Sound the Bells now sounded distorted, and the leading-edge
transients made me wince. I got similar results with solo piano, and even with
soft acoustic guitar. I started backing the Intensity setting down, going
progressively to 2, 1, 12 and, finally, 11:30 o'clock on the dial. For my system
in my listening room, the 11:30 position offers the best combination of attack
and relaxation, and there it has stayed.

The Steinmusic effects restored much of the acoustic warmth
and harmonic richness that was lacking in the untreated room. But even more
dramatic was the striking increases in the intelligibility of vocals. I have
probably listened more than 100 times to Patricia Barber's wonderful Modern
Cool, on both SACD and vinyl. One of the things I love about this
great artist is her impeccable diction; one can generally understand her lyrics
without need for reading the texts – except for moments here and there where
her Quintet is wailing and things gets complicated. But I found that the
Steinmusic rig made even those more-difficult-to-follow sections much clearer
and easier to comprehend fully. I found that increased intelligibility with
singers ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Emmylou Harris to Renée Fleming to
Thomas Hampson, with all those disparate artists suddenly easier to comprehend
than ever before, even when the Acoustic ART system had been in use.

This sense of reduced distortion and improved intelligibility
was equally evident in instrumental music. On symphonic recordings, inner voices
were more easily discerned within the full orchestral texture. On one of my most
demanding jazz LPs, Gil Evans' Out of the
Cool, I could now hear a startling increase in micro-detail that had
previously remained somewhat buried in the mix. These qualities, I think, are
the most distinctive characteristic of how the Steinmusic system enhances the
total music listening experience.

Having gotten a good fix on what the Steinmusic system was
doing to my room, I was now ready to re-activate the Acoustic ART system and see
what the combination would do. Would they work together or fight each other?
Both systems had independently delivered more beautiful tonality, richer and
more complex harmonics, and above all more emotional connection to the music
than my untreated room. I restored the resonating bowls of the Acoustic ART
system to their locations and started to play the stunning CSO Resound SACD of
Ricardo Muti conducting the Verdi Requiem – a complicated mix of large chorus,
orchestra and soloists, in a performance I had heard live in Orchestra Hall.

To my utter delight, this magnificent performance was now more
compelling than ever. The Synergistic and Stein systems together produced a huge
but precisely delineated image-specific soundscape, seeming to develop at once
an overwhelming sense of scale in the big dramatic passages and enhanced
intimacy in the quieter moments. There was a new and emotionally stirring bloom
to the music. Reviewer cliché warning: that first night I could not bring
myself to shut down the music and go to bed until after 3 a.m.

In
trying to sort out what each room treatment is contributing to this marvelous
overall effect, I think the most important contribution of the Steinmusic system
is to reduce distortions – even those that may go unrecognized until they are
eliminated and thus conspicuous by their absence. Yes, the Steinmusic elements
do add warmth and harmonic richness, but it is the accurate rendering of details
and ability to eliminate subtle forms of distortion that are their greatest
achievement.

What the Acoustic ART adds to that mix is wonderfully enhanced
tonal warmth and harmonic complexity – as if my listening room has morphed
from sounding like a pretty good concert hall – e.g., Orchestra Hall here in
Chicago – to the warmer, richer and more exciting acoustic of, say, Boston's
Symphony Hall.

So, how does one choose between these two room treatment
concepts? Neither system is inexpensive, nor cost alone will probably limit
music lovers to one or the other. I feel fortunate that I have both and that
they are so compatible, but what would be my choice if I had to choose between
them? It is a very tough call, but with my back to the wall I guess I would opt
for the Steinmusic system. The deciding factor for me is that stunning increase
in intelligibility of vocal and instrumental detail, coupled as it is to most
impressive spatial enhancements. But I'm really glad I can keep both!

What's Happening In Those Harmonizers? Normally this section would come near the beginning of the review. I have left it until now for different reasons. It deals with concepts in physics that are beyond my ken, and that some readers may find confusing. I think this product is such a remarkable and groundbreaking development that I wanted first to describe its effects before attempting to explain them. And, finally, part of the explanation I can offer is speculation, and has not been verified by the company, which has chosen to keep technical details proprietary.

The PDF Steinmusic manual for the Harmonizers describes their function as "elongating the air
molecules" – i.e. "charging" the air in the listening room in a manner that facilitates the transmission of musical energy through the room. It seems to be suggesting that this charging of the air molecules means that when the speaker output enters the listening room space it does not have to overcome the inertia of uncharged/un-elongated air in the room.

I spoke with Holger Stein at the RMAF in Denver last year,
and we have had a number of telephone conversations. He also sent me an e-mail in which he described the inspiration for this system as having been motivated by hearing subtle changes in the acoustics of a room in which some pieces of quartz had been placed. Quartz can be cut and shaped, and has highly resonant properties. Although he has not confirmed this theory, I suspect that the Magic Stones and Magic Diamonds are composed of quartz that has been tuned to resonate with the emanations of the Harmonizers. (In that respect they function similarly to the resonating carbon steel bowls used in the Synergistic Acoustic ART system.)

I mentioned near the beginning of this article that I heard about Steinmusic from Jack Bybee, who has been a practicing theoretical physicist for over half a century. At that time Jack confessed that he did not understand just how the Steinmusic system did what it did. But Jack's mind never stops working, and he has discussed this question with other scientists. The consensus of those discussions seems to be that although we are dealing with areas of quantum physics that most of us don't understand, the scientific principle at work is valid. Recently Jack mentioned that one of his friends and science peers (who owns and loves the Steinmusic Harmonizer system) believes that each Harmonizer circuit contains a quartz element whose vibrations are set to predetermined frequencies, and that the resonances that they project into the room are regulated by setting the Intensity knob. Again, Holger Stein has not commented on this theory, but it makes sense intuitively to me. It is clear from all my usage that the Harmonizers are projecting some kind of resonant energy into the room, which excites the passive Magic Stones/Diamonds and makes the room's air more receptive to the energy of the speaker output.

Ultimately, whether these theories are right or wrong is immaterial to me. The audible evidence that the Steinmusic Harmonizer system is a superior room conditioning product is inarguable, and the ability to achieve a glorious-sounding listening room without the need for those big ugly traps and diffusers cinches the
deal!